Ben Harper on Collaborating With Charlie Musselwhite Again: "It Was Bound to Happen" | In Studio

"We’re comrades now so we talk regularly, so it was just bound to happen when we both had the time," Harper told THR.

Singer-songwriter Ben Harper has teamed with harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite once again for their second collaborative album, No Mercy in This Land, a follow-up of their 2013 Grammy-winning Get Up!, and according to Harper, it was only a matter of time that these two musicians came back together.

“We’re comrades now so we talk regularly, so it was just bound to happen when we both had the time,” Harper told The Hollywood Reporter In Studio.

Coming together for another record, Harper explained how this one is different from their previous effort, calling it a more “mature."

“I’d say the main difference from this record to the last is the few hundred shows played and the millions of miles traveled together,” he said. “It’s odd being an older motherfucker and still talking about maturity, but it’s a mature record. I mean, it’s matured from the last one, I think, and it’s a bit reckless to talk about one’s own maturity, but at a certain age, you got to know when you’re growing and when you’re not."

Harper and Musselwhite are currently on the road for No Mercy, but when Harper isn’t rocking out onstage night after night, he’s more of a simple family guy who loves to skate. “I change diapers and I pick up kids from school. Super-dad," he explains. "I try to make up for lost time without overcompensating. So yeah, that and skateboarding.”